Stage lift pump



W. G. HU RLEY STAGE LIFT PUMP June 2s, 1949,

Filed May 1'7, 1945 W4 Tf? G//aa 5)/ IN V EN TOR.

Patente-d June 28, 1949 unitevi:

STAGE LIFT PUMP f Application-Mayen, 1945, seria1-,Nb.-594,2o3f.-

(ol. 10s-24s) The principal 'object of the invention ,is to, pro'-l vide a uid displacement Iu nit 'adapted to be sus` pended with other' identical units-v in afprod'u'cing Well for submergence in the" nuid therein'.

Through the provision of a float actuated'valve,A

a gaseous pressure'medium'inaintained in thee well' casing exteriorly of the unit at a predetermined pressure is introduced'into the latterto displace nuid upwardly into"pre'ceding units;V to

the surface, the said valve being also effective upon recession of the oat to eva'cute" thev unit" of gas through an exhaust pipe coextensive with the tubing and unit assembly.

Another object of the inventioniis to' provide" a simplified fluidl liftin which the float controlling the ingressandeg'ressof the; pressure me# dium is semi-cylindrical and operates AinA a correspondingly shaped-casing or kguide'in the housing of the apparatus-'but issubstantially le'ss in detrminesilthe number' of. uiddisplacemnt units tob employed and itfhasmenfound trle practicable to suspend' tiieseunits,abouttoozfeet apartonthe'tubing stringk 1| sq thatatleastthe l* lowermo'st 'f the units Will be. submerged in. the' fiuidlifA the Well.

All ofthe' lifting `orf displ'acemtlunits'are iden tical. in construction "andfe'ach vconsists of 'a 13 to-eachendof a.'pipe.section 'I4if a predeterl mined Ie'ng'th'and'thisf'assembly will" be hereinafter' referred. tok as the" lnit housing..

Within the? unit, housing is arranged a: fluidi displ'ac'iement,tubel l5, thev 'upper` end ofwhich has l "adouble curve Vor olst `so that it may be con'- centric with 'the suspending vtubing 4ll and in order, that the-bodyf` thereof. will extend', flush againstvthe Walljofl the housing'z I4' toa point'near thevbotto'm ofv the latter, as` shown in Figure l1. In tlfe lower' end f'thefdisplacementltube l 5 there is provided atche'ck valve'lB of any suitableI-delength than said guide.Mv The guide-'isl capable, of

limited longitudinal displacement, underjthrust of the buoyed float to ope'n afvalveto i'ngressoa pressure medium and falls'under itsown Weight' to change the valve vposition"subsequentto evacuation of fluidfrom the housingibysaid lpressure medium, to releaser the latter to 'exhaust' preparatory to a renewed'cycl'e of operation.

With the foregoing objects as paramountthe1 invention has further reference to certainV fea-"' tures of accomplishment Whichwill'becmeapparent as the description'proceedsftaken in con# nection with the accompanyingl drawings where-f Figure 1 is an elevational View *of `one-'unit constructed according-to t1"1e-invention,` in vertical section, shown'in awellcasin'gi Figure 2 isla similar but Venlar'gedrviev'v of the upper portion of theunt.

Figure 3 is a viewin transverse "sectiontaken on line 3'-3 on Figure l'.`

Figure 4 is a viewin transverse section takenon line 4--4 on Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a perspective ,'vieW'r o f a'form of pressure control valve, partly: broken away'.

Continuing with amore detaileddescriptionf' of the drawing, reference numeral I0 denotesthe casing of a producing Well. #Thei'depth' ofthe" Welt standing valve I1 ofsmilar'jdesignl and function.

It iSr appallelfit f1'0I1"1'."they folgng that` Well 'fluid'r'ising' throughtheltu'bing l Iblowlthehousing I4 will enten the'latterfand willbe constrained by the'valve I1 to pass upwardlyinto the displacement pipe i5, 'past -valve il (i.A when a gaseous mediurn at sufcientpressu'rei's introducedinto the L unit hou'singand. in being )so disp'lace'dvthe fluid will' entei""the' nextadjaoent unit: above, to be similarly rdisplaced to, the surfacei The gaseos' 'medium' employed 'to operate the `f unit'sis introduced from' the" sur fac underz pump pressure 'into' theA space I8 between the unitrand casing, Hl. The' pressurefis..maintained Yconstanty at approximately 175 poundsfsinc'e it has'. been determined thata column "of fluid can be elevated. a distancev ofapprjoXir'natelyjOO feet atthis 1 pressure". I-Ien'c'le'the' units are. spaced aparti in the .Well a distanfce slightly 'under 50'0l feet;

Near the` uppelfendfof each unit there is provided. 'an inlet porti IBL vfor lthe gaseous pressure? medium, which' port is in' control of4 a valve, generally indicated `by reference numeral! 23, Aand This zvalve is 'ofthe twolway variety and lwhile. a specific construction is shorv'n'in Figuref5, no limitation' is intenddlsincfe AVariation in design- The valve 20, as shown, consists of the body bearing the same reference numeral and which is longitudinally bored at 2| to accommodate the pressure medium entering the housing from the casing when the core 22 of the valve is opened. The core 22 is preferably tapered, although not so shown, to maintain proper seal and to compensate for high pressures, an anti-friction thrust bearing 23 is provided thereon.

Communicating with the axial bore 2| in the valve body 20 is a vertical bore 24 which, in turn, communicates with a pipe 25.

The pipe 25 enters a vertical exhaust pipe 26, which extends alongside the tubing I I and enters the upper end of each unit housing I4 to pass through the same to the bottom of the entire unit assembly. This pipe discharges to atmosphere at the surface.

It is apparent from the foregoing that in one position of the valve core 22, pressure will enter the unit housing I4 through port I9 and will be expelled therefrom through the exhaust pipe 25 when the core 22 is moved to the other of its two positions.

To actuate the valve 2|] as described, a float chamber 2l is provided, which as apparent in` Figures 3 and 4 is semi-circular in transverse section, to conform to one side of housing I4 in which it depends to a point spaced from the bottom of the unit. This chamber is permitted to move vertically a limited distance as indicated by broken lines in Figures 1 and 2. Within the chamber 21 is a buoyant element `or more speciflcally a iloat 28, preferably made of a wooden core covered by a metallic sheathing 29 (Fig. 4). The float is substantially half the length of the chamber 2l in which it reciprocates in order to increase the quantity of fluid displaced.

Near the upper end of the chamber 2'| is a pair of cross bars 30 against which the float 28 bears when it is elevated by fluid rising in housing I4. Upon engaging the bars 30, continued upward movement of the iloat will raise the float chamber 2l, aided by the counterbalancing spring 3|, connected at one end to the chamber and at its upper end to the bend of iluid pipe I5.

Pivoted to a transverse rod 32 at the top of the chamber 2l is an arm 33. This arm extends upwardly at an angle and is pivoted at a to a second valve actuating arm 34. The valve actuating arm is affixed to the core 22 of Valve 29 and the relationship of the arms 33 and 34 and the degree of displacement of chamber I4 are calculated to move the valve core 90 or to impart thereto sulcient movement to align the passage 35 therein with respective passages or bores 2l and 24 in the valve body 20.

In order to maintain operative relationship of the valve actuating arms 33 and 34, a spring 36 is connected at one end to a point on arm 34 near pivot point a and at its opposite end to the wall of the housing I4. A stop 3'I on arm 34 (Fig. 1) limits relative displacement of arms 33 and 34 in both raised and lowered positions.

In order to maintain perpendicularity of the oat chamber 2l, guide rods 38 are disposed in parallel relation to the sides of the chamber and are secured at their upper and lower ends to the walls of the housing I4. Arms 39, secured to the flat side of the chamber 21 slidably embrace rods 38 to hold the float chamber in properly spaced relation to the walls of the housing I4 to prevent frictional resistance to its vertical movement.

In operation, well iluid, seeking its level or under pressure of the gaseousA medium in the casing I0 will rise in the housing I4 through standing valve I'I. As it rises in the housing I4, the iluid will raise the iloat 28 until the latter engages the cross bars 30, whereupon the iloat chamber 21 will begin to move upwardly. This action causes movement of the arms 33 and 34 to a point where the spring 36 will cause sudden movement of the core 22 of the valve to a position to admit the pressure medium exteriorly of the housing I4 into the latter through port I9 and valve passage 2|. Pressure thus introduced will impose a pressure head on the column of iluid in housing I4 suilcient to force the iiuid upwardly into pipe I5 past the valve I6 and into the tubing II to be ultimately received and similarly acted upon by other units above.

It will be observed in Figure 1 that the lowest position of float 28, which recedes under its own dead weight 'as well as the pressure imposed thereon from above, is sufficiently above the bottom of housing I4 to provide a liquid seal about the lower end of iluid pipe I5 to prevent ingress of gas or air. This feature not only preserves the pressure medium for active service but also saves gas and prevents a turbulent condition in the fluid displacement pipe I5.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modification and such modiilcation as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of theappended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A stage lift apparatus for a well including a fluid displacement unit comprised of an elongated housing having a pressure inlet port adjacent its top and into which fluid rises from said well, a fluid pipe enteringsaid housing at its top and depending to a point therein adjacent its bottom, a valve in the lower end of said pipe, a two-way rotary valve in `control of said pressure inlet port, a float chamber in said housing capable of limited longitudinal movement therein, a float sto-p in the upper end of said chamber, a float in said chamn ber, a pressure exhaust pipe extending through said housing and having communication with said inlet port, a pair of relatively pivoted arms connecting the top of said chamber with said inlet valve for opening the same to pressure entering said inlet port when fluid rising in said housing elevates said iloat against said float stop to evacuate said fluid through said fluid pipe, and spring means in control of said to render them effective upon recession of said float and chamber to open said valve to said exhaust pipe.

2. A stage lift apparatus for wells including a fluid displacement unit comprising an elongated housing suspended by a tubing, having an inlet port at its top for a gaseous pressure medium and a check valve in its bottom, a two-way inlet valve in control of said port, a float actuated float chamber for operating said valve, relatively pivoted arms connecting said latter valve and said float chamber, a pressure exhaust pipe extending through said housing with which said valve communicates, a fluid pipe entering said housing at its top and terminating adjacent its bottom, a check valve in said pipe, a float in said iloat chamber rendered buoyant by fluid rising in said housing for displacing said iloat chamber to actuate said inlet Valve to admit said gaseous pressure medium into said housing to displace fluid therein upwardly through said fluid pipe, means for opening said inlet valve to said exhaust pipe upon recession of said float to release said gaseous medium from said housing and spring means for urging said pivoted arms to extreme displaced positions in the raising and lowering movements of said oat chamber.

3. A fluid lifting apparatus for Wells including a iiuid displacement unit adapted to operate in a Well, having an inlet at its top for admitting a gaseous medium under pressure, a valve in the bottom of said housing, a valve in control of said inlet, a float actuated float chamber for operating said inlet valve, a pair of spring controlled and relatively pivoted arms operatively connecting said inlet valve and float chamber, an exhaust pipe for said'unit and having communication with said inlet valve, a uid displacement pipe, a float in said iioat chamber rendered buoyant by Well fluid rising in said unit to raise said float chamber to open said inlet valve to admit said pressure medium to displace uid into said displacement pipe and effective upon evacuation of said fluid to yield to the unsupported weight of said float chamber to open said valve to said 5 exhaust pipe.

WALTER Gr. HURLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the 10 le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

